How do you litter box train a rabbit?

Question

I use to have a rabbit and so did my neighbors and they said they housetrained there rabbit while mine got to play outside in a hug play cage while there rabbit got free roam of the house... how do you train a rabbit to be litter box train??? (not actually going to train my rabbit speaking she died a few years ago but i was just wondering)

Answer 1

I am so sorry to haer about your bunny, but if you get another one try doing this and I put some more links on tips and different ideas...smile

Rabbits can be litterbox trained much like cats. Any age of rabbit can be trained, however with young bunnies there will tend to be a few more 'accidents' until the rabbit reaches maturity.

Items You Will Need

Some items you may want to have on hand when beginning to litterbox train your bunny are the following:

Cat litterbox or plastic pan*
Cat litter (not the scoopable kind), sand, or corn cob litter*
Whisk broom/dust pan or hand-held vacuum cleaner
White vinegar
Paper towels
Spray bottle filled with water
*You may omit the litterbox and cat litter if you are planning on leaving the cage door open for the bunny to use its cage in place of a litterbox.



Steps for Litterbox Training Success

The following steps describe what I have found to be the easiest and most productive way of litterbox training a house rabbit.

Fill the litterbox ¼ to ½ full of litter. Place it in the corner of the cage that the rabbit chooses as its bathroom spot. A rabbit will generally always go to the bathroom in the same corner of its cage. This way, the rabbit will associate the box with going to the bathroom. If it's not possible to place the litterbox inside the cage, place some droppings and a urine soaked paper towel inside the litterbox and proceed to step two.

Place the litterbox in the desired area and let the rabbit out to run. Immediately place the rabbit in the litterbox and every few minutes thereafter so that it can smell that this is its potty spot and help it remember where it is located.

Once the bunny uses the litterbox on its own, give it positive reinforcement. A small treat and some pets will help reinforce the idea that it is a good thing to use in the litterbox. Soon, the bunny will use it routinely, with no need for extra treats.

If you choose to just leave the cage open for the rabbit to use as its litterbox, follow steps 2 and 3 above, replacing 'litterbox' with 'cage'.



'Accidents'

If you catch the bunny in the act of relieving itself on the floor, promptly squirt it in the face with the water a couple of times. This will not harm the rabbit, but because they do not like to be sprayed like this, it makes an excellent deterrent. After this, place the rabbit inside the litterbox, and give it some pets and scratches on the head. This way, the rabbit will associate 'bad' with using the floor, but 'good' with the litterbox. If the rabbit leaves 'pills' on the floor, these can be swept up with the broom and dust pan, or easily vacuumed with a hand-held vacuum. Do not leave them on the floor as this will likely encourage the rabbit to to it again. If the rabbit should urinate on the floor, it should be promptly soaked up with a paper towel, and the area thoroughly cleaned with a white vinegar/water mixture. This will neutralize the odor so that the bunny will not be able to smell that it has gone there before, and confuse this place with its litterbox.

Some of the most common reasons that may cause a slipup with a litterbox trained bunny are the following:

Excitement. Often when a bunny gets overly excited, they may accidentally lose control of themselves.
Hormones. Sometimes bucks will spray urine to mark their territory. Occasionally a doe will also either urinate or leave feces when her hormones have kicked in and she wants to be bred. These problems can be alleviated by spaying or neutering.
Illness. If a rabbit shows signs of diarrhea, it will need to be treated immediately.

Answer 2

I suggest put some rabbit pee of his or hers on toilette paper and maybee a couple poop droppind the set it in the litter box then set the rabbit in there a few times a day , also put it in a good erea where you let the rabbit run around.

Answer 3

u get a small litter box and place it in the same corner that she normal pees in for a few weeks and after that slowly move the litter box around to where u would like it to be. make sure to leave some old shavings in the litter pan so she knows.